English Should Be Made Compulsory In All Schools From Class 6th Onwards – Govt. Panel On Education
In one of the strongest ever pitch for reforming educational standards in India, a Govt. panel has suggested that English should be made compulsory in all schools, and every student from class 6th onwards should study English as a compulsory subject.
Besides, the panel has recommended that atleast one English language school should exist in every block of the country. There are 6612 blocks in the country, and this single step has the potential to revolutionize education in the country.
The panel which has recommended these suggestions comprised of a group of Secretaries and was named as ‘Group on Education & Social Development’. They put major emphasis on education of English and Science, as they said that English should be made “a compulsory subject in all schools from class 6th onwards” and “at least one English medium school (be set up) in every block along with Science education facility in a radius of 5 kms”.
Can English Improve Lives Of Indians?
In August, 2015, we published a report which stated that 97% of Engineers in India cannot speak English, and as a result, 80% of all Engineers are unemployable as software engineers. This report created massive uproar, as Engineers claimed that English cannot be the sole criteria for judging their capability.
However, the fact of the matter is, English is right now a Universal language, and majority of higher education is in English. Software industry relies on English language, so is Services, ITeS and other computer related industries.
The panel has rightly understood the fact if Indian youth wants to compete against global powers, then they need to study and master over the English language.
The State of English Right Now
As of now, the study of English and other languages is guided by the Three Language Formula as laid down in the National Policy on Education (Parliamentary Resolution) of 1968. As per this ‘formula’, students of Central Board of Secondary Education-affiliated schools need to learn English in their first eight years, meanwhile for students of class 9th to 12th, there is an option to choose between English and Hindi.
Besides, the formula suggests study of English, Hindi and a ‘modern Indian language’ in Hindi speaking states, and study of English, Hindi and a regional language in non-Hindi speaking states.
Way back in 2011, we had reported that proficiency of English speaking among Indians is lower than that of Chinese. However, at the same time, India has one of the largest English speaking population in the World.
English As Compulsory Subject – Political Implications
RSS, which has been the ideological force behind the political decisions of BJP, has been recommending Hindi as the compulsory subject, and had suggested removal of English as a subject from Govt. schools.
RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) had last year sent a proposal to Ministry of Human Resource Development, requesting that Hindi should be made the medium of teaching from elementary to higher levels, and English should be not be compulsory at any level.
Thus, there is a clear political opposition to the study of English, and it would be interesting to observe how Govt. responds to the suggestions of the high level panel, which wants English language to be the compulsory subject.
Do you believe that making English can solve problems for India? Should English be made compulsory for all students? Do let us know by commenting right here.
Image Source: GG2.net
Now Days English Is Imporant But More Than that Focus on Skills Like Digital Marketing Or Social Media Marketing
Edsun Solutions is Authorized Enrollment Partner for NMIMS Global Access School for Continuing Education (NGA-SCE). NGA-SCE is India’s No. 1 Distance MBA University.
In the age of globalization and internet, it is a good move by the government that they made English compulsory in schools. Most of the content that is available right now on the Internet is in English. As the internet penetration is increasing in villages as well, this move will help a lot of people in the future.
“However, the fact of the matter is, English is right now a Universal language, and majority of higher education is in English. Software industry relies on English language, so is Services, ITeS and other computer related industries.”
– English is definitely not a ‘Universal Language’. More than half of the world doesn’t speak English.
– English is definitely not a ‘requirement’ for business. If Israel can teach Medicine and Engineering in Hebrew, India can do well with Hindi (and other local languages).
– I can introduce you to large number of engineers who suck at English; yet are super awesome in their technical abilities.
– Perhaps, an effort should be made in localizing software and making it available in the language people are comfortable with than forcing them to learn new language. Tweaking software is far easier than making people learn an alien language.
– English should be treated as ‘third’ language till we make the bigger transition.
PS: No need to bring in RSS into everything; unless you’re an AAP supporter, of course.
What is your world ? The english speaking countries? in france ,japan ,german and many other countries conducting top level research in their languages.they are learning english as well but have all facilities to do researches in their own language.these indians are much more loyal than lord Maccauley thaught.actually india failed to create a proper language policy in this 70 independet years.all the higher education is available only some affluent in english medium. Student face it very difficult when after 10+2 they are thrown into a english language ocean. Who study in english medium has enough money to tame that. Just introducing english medium will not solve problem.can student from weaker section ( who are actually most in india) has the environment or able to buy th expensive environment to be comfortable in that language which make them efficient to express all their social , political, and scientifical views in Gods language(english, according to indian behaviour). Is any detailed sstudy ever conducted ever on language ,society ,education,,and there interrelation. All indian policy specially on education are in favour of affluent and they are the maker of all laws and recommendations. And can india go beyond america centrinc ssoftware industry? It is a big question.has france , russia ,japan, and all other countries left their language to do reasearch in english language. Who said you?why are misinforming that english is the sole higher education and research language?yes english as a second language necessary. Everyone in not going to join call centre and bpo and software .what india has done in this 70 years through force ful dose of english? Look at china . We have failed to create proper educantion and proper language infrastructure.aftet 10+2 most of the student lost in english language and their subject and crtical thinking lost in that.go other countries , then research on socio linguistics ,education ,innovation ,critical thinking and cognitive ability rleated to language .